U.S. Told to Fund Desegregation

CHICAGO — A judge today ordered the federal government to provide up to $17 million immediately to help Chicago desegregate its public schools and additional aid totaling up to $17 million annually in fiscal 1986 through 1989.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Marvin E. Aspen is the latest in a five-year legal battle growing out of a 1980 consent decree entered into by the Justice Department and the Chicago Board of Education to desegregate the nation's third-largest school system. Justice Department attorney Neil Koslowe said the government would appeal Aspen's ruling.